Chapter 2

Six Years Later...

A short child could be seen running through the streets of Konoha, bright wild blond hair flowing through the air, deep cerulean eyes looking every which way, trying to find a way out of his current predicament. Currently, little Naruto is running from a mob of angry villagers with a few shinobi thrown into the mix. Some may ask, 'Why are they chasing a poor, defenseless child?', the reason is fairly simple. They hate him and everything that he reminds them of. Naruto Uzumaki, is a constant reminder to the villagers that they lost someone precious to them, be they family or friends.

Naruto's day started out like any other day, he got up, made a breakfast of instant ramen, put on his orange jumpsuit and left his small apartment. Except that this day, October 10^th, happened to be the sixth anniversary of the Kyuubi attack and today the annual festival was being held, meaning that a lot of the businesses would be closed today. It also happened to Naruto's birthday and he was going to see the 'Old Man' and see if he wanted to play.

As he made his way to the Hokage tower, most of the villagers he encountered glared at him, which wasn't at all uncommon, but the glares seemed to be especially harsh today. He learned early on to ignore the stares and the hateful curses slung at him by putting up his 'mask'. Said mask, was in fact a huge fox-like smile and appeared to be cheerful on the outside, while containing his true emotions on the inside. He managed to make it to the Hokage tower in record time, climb the several flights of stairs two at a time. Now he was in front of the secretary's desk and asked if he could see 'Gramps'.

"You will show the Hokage proper respect he deserves, you little brat. Besides he can't see you today, his schedule is completely full." The secretary sneered at him, unwilling to let the 'demon brat' in to see the Hokage. Dark thoughts of the demon assassinating the Hokage running through her head, while she continues to sneer at the boy.

Still smiling, which seem to grow just a little and a bit more forced after her statement, Naruto said loudly, "Fine, I'll just come back at another time."

Off to the left, the Hokage's office door opened, to reveal his old wrinkled face peeking through the gap in the door.

"Ah, Naruto. Just in time, as I've just finished all of my paperwork for the day. I was getting bored just sitting around." Sarutobi shot a meaningful glance at his secretary, as if saying he knew what she had said. She would be looking for another job by the end of the day, just like the last seven secretaries that have been through the office.

Little Naruto squeezed through the gap in the door and plopped down onto one of the more comfortable chairs within the office. Naruto looked throughout the office noticing a few little knick-knacks here and there. His eyes finally landed on four pictures behind the Hokage's desk, which depicted the four greatest Hokages to serve the village.

"So, I see that you've interested in my old friends, eh Naruto?" Sarutobi asked.

"Yeah, who are they?" the six year old chirped.

"Well, from left to right, they are the Shodaime and the Nidaime Hokages, whom were like older brothers to me. They in fact were the ones to find me and bring me to this village when I was just a little boy no older than yourself." Sarutobi said, memories of the day surfacing in his mind.

"Really gramps? Wow that must have been a really long time ago then." Naruto said innocently, his blue eyes widening in surprise.

"Yes, it was and such great times we had. Let me tell you a story Naruto-kun. It's how this village was formed and it involves the Shodaime and the Nidaime." Sarutobi said with a wistful smile.

"Really! I'm all ears." The boy replied and a low chuckle could be heard throughout the room.

"Well, our story begins around seventy-five years ago and many bands of shinobi still roamed the wilds of the world. Back then their was less than a handful of Hidden Villages and as the story goes my older 'brothers' were traveling far and wide, learning new techniques, making new friends, and making enough money to live. One day they decided to create a new Hidden Village and traveled farther than before looking for just the right location. After a year of searching and finding nothing, they came across a most desolate land. At the time it was called Fire country, which earned it's name from the blazing sun and the scorching winds. Basically it was an expanded part of the desert that made up Wind country." Sarutobi paused to light his pipe.

"Then how come we have all these trees now, old man?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Patience, Naruto-kun, I'm getting to that very shortly. Because of the shape of the land nobody wanted to make a village here and anybody who thought to try, was thought of as a fool. My brothers, on the other hand were not fools and were very special. The Shodaime could use the very rare Wood Element and wood based techniques, while the Nidaime was so proficient in water jutsu that he could create water from the very air without hand seals. It took some doing, but after two years the entire face of Fire Country was completely changed. The vast forest that you know now was said to be created by a single jutsu, while all of the lakes and rivers coursing through the land was drawn up from deep underground by the Nidaime. They began to build our village, attracting other shinobi looking for a place to establish clans or trades routes." Sarutobi finished.

"WOW!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs.

'AH, my ears!' Thought Sarutobi.

If anything was well known in Konoha, it was the fact that Naruto was one of the loudest kids in the village. After a few moments, his hearing finally came back and he noticed that Naruto was uncommonly quite. That was when he notices the child's head bowed with his blond bangs covering his eyes from view. When he looked up, Sarutobi saw the look of great sadness.

"Hey old man, it's that day again. You know the one I'm talking about."

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" Sarutobi blinked, his mind still frazzled from all of the paperwork he had from earlier.

"You know, October 10^th, my birthday. It's already starting and the sun is still up. They don't usually start till nightfall." The child said slowly.

A strained grunt came from the elder man, while he was pinching the bridge of his nose in agitation.

'It gets worse every year.' The Hokage thought solemnly.

"Try to be patient with them Naruto, they don't understand, give them time." Sarutobi said reassuringly.

"I'll try old man, I'll try." He almost whispered and then proceeded to plaster a wide cheesy grin on his face.

The mask was now back on and it hurt the older man to see someone so young have to resort to such a defense mechanism.

"Naruto, what is your dream?" asked Sarutobi as he puffed on his pipe.

"Well... I guess, I want people to see me for me and not curse at me or throw things at me. I want them to show me respect!" Naruto exclaimed his little fist thrusted in the air, his eyes full of determination.

"So, your going to take my job then, eh? Cause the title Hokage, means that you've the skills and ability to be the best of the best out of all the ninja." Sarutobi smirked.

"Yeah! If I had your job then they'll have to show me respect." Naruto said.

"Remember though, Naruto, you'll have to train very hard and you'll have to prove to your peers that your are the best if you want to become Hokage one day." the old man said, making sure the kid didn't get to far ahead of himself.

"Right got it. Don't get too comfortable in that seat gramps, cause before you know it it'll be mine. Believe it!" Naruto said before he disappeared out through the office door.

Sarutobi chuckled at the antics of a six year old and shook his head ruefully. That was until his secretary came in with a large stack of papers needed to be reviewed before being signed. Sarutobi stared in horror as his dreaded enemy reared it's ugly head yet again, which cause the old man to break down and cry.

'Naruto, please hurry up and become Hokage, damn paperwork, why Kami why must you torment me so?' he thought sadly.

Naruto was feeling pretty hungry after his chat with the old man and decided that lunch was in order. He made his way towards his favorite eatery, Ichiraku's Ramen Bar, where the best ramen in the world is made.

'Hope the old man didn't close today. Cause I'm starvin' Naruto thought as he ran down some back alleys.

Making his way through the seedier parts of Konoha, avoiding the already crowded bars and other establishments of such note. After twenty minutes of running he finally made it to his destination, only to find that they had closed for the day.

"Ah, man now what am I going to eat? All the other places in the village would just throw me out or try to add me to the menu, if I'm not quick enough." Naruto said to himself.

'I better just head back to the apartment. Hopefully no one will try to break in this year, like they did last year or the year before that or the year before that.' He thought, while vivid memories of past occurrences flashed through his head.

Quickly backtracking his way to his home, Naruto move from shadow to shadow, barely making any noise. It was already late afternoon and he need to get home before dark or before some rowdy drunks stumbled out of some bar. Fifteen agonizing minutes later, Naruto was less than thirty yards from his apartment building and it seemed like the coast was clear, not a villager in sight.

'That's strange, even on a day like today, their should be a few people out and about. But the streets are completely deserted. Hell even the stray dogs, that are normally scrounging around the alley next to my apartment building are missing. This isn't good.' He thought with a little trepidation.

"Come on, Naruto. You can do it! It's only thirty yards to the building. Only thirty long yards, while making a mad dash on short legs, out in the open for all to see. Yeah, no sweat. What's the worse that could happen?" He says trying to build-up his confidence.

'Damn my short legs! Why couldn't I be tall!?' he thought mournfully.

He took four long even breaths, trying to calm his already shaky nerves. On the fourth breath he charged out of his hiding place and made for his sanctuary. Slowly the distance began to dwindle between himself and the apartment building. He was less than ten feet from his goal, when suddenly pain erupted from the back of his skull and stars filled his vision. He crumbled to the ground like a sack of potatoes, his breathing causing a few clouds of dirt to appear. He felt the back of his head and drew back from the intense throbbing pain it caused. When he looked at his hand, he saw the warm sticky liquid that was his blood covering his hand. He looked to see what had caused his misfortune and discovered a broken saké bottle.

"Wh... where d... o you think you're going b... brat?" a slurred and sour voice sounded not far behind Naruto.

Naruto risked a quick glance of his surroundings and what he saw would ruin the rest of his week. A few dozen people began to mill out of the surrounding alleyways, quite a few of them smelling strongly of alcohol. Each was armed with whatever makeshift weapon that was handy. At this discovery Naruto thought it was high time to make his exit. He scrambled to his feet and dashed for the nearest ally as five men tried to stop him by swinging their clubs, which were fished out of a nearby dumpster. One managed to clip his shoulder and the rest missed, if barely by a hairs width tearing his clothes a little. Once in the alleyway he found a ladder connected to a fire escape and launched himself up the ladder. Not far behind the mob gave chase, few of the members already climbing up the ladder, mumbling curses under their breath and slipping every now and again.

Naruto made it to the roof and charged towards the next building, jumping over the four foot gap between buildings and rolling as he landed. Sweat trickled down his face causing some of the blond locks of hair to become plastered to his forehead. The thuds of feet hitting roof tar alerted him that the drunkards hadn't given up just yet. A fresh wave of adrenaline hit his system forcing him to move as fast as he could away from his pursuers. He ran jumping from roof top to roof top, avoiding incoming glass bottles and stones thrown by the mob.

'I just need to get back to the old man and he'll protect me.' Naruto thought.

His goal was a few blocks away and his pursuers were slowly falling behind. He was so distracted that he didn't notice the incoming kunai, until they pierced his skin. A strangle scream barely escaped his mouth as he tumbled off one of the roof tops and fell into a nearby tree. A sickening crunch was heard and a blinding pain erupted from his ribcage. Naruto slid out of the tree and hit the ground with a dull thud, this time his scream was not strangled or muffled at all.

'Didn't think a knee bent in that direction.' Naruto thought to himself, a little in shock and mild curiosity.

Two ninja's appeared out of the shadows, dressed in dark fitted clothes and white ANBU armor, as they lazily approached the bleeding child. Their ANBU masks hiding them from being identified and hope of being rescued began to grow.

"Seems you missed, eh Rooster?" one of them said casually, like he didn't have a care in the world.